It has been a long time since I came to this site but my experience with Keratin leads me to find out of other people out there have had the same experience.

I had it done two years ago. My hair took well and my normal curls were nowhere in sight... so the Keratin treatment seemed to be a success. But, as the months passed I kept expecting, and waiting, for my "normal hair" to return.

It never did.

Ever since Keratin, my hair texture has changed from well defined, fluffy cork-screw curls to VERY frizzy, dry/brittle, hard to tame curls. My hair has also been thinning tremendously.

I think the thinning might be from stress I had last year, but even still, I noticed these changes before the stress occurred.

I was speaking to my aunt who said her friend who had Keratin experienced a texture change as well - her hair became very frizzy and dry.

Are there others out there who are experiencing this? Do tell!

I hope I am not alone!

Napp

12-08-2012 08:23 AM

I have a few questions

What brand of treatment did you use?
Did you get it done at a salon or at home?
Did it have formaldehyde or not?

What temperature was the flat iron set at?
Is your thinning from breakage or is it falling from the root?
How often do you use heat?
How often do you deep condition?

I have been doing keratin treatments off and on for a while now and the only thing that permanently loosened my hair was pravana perfection.(i already knew this was a possibility after reading reviews) I always do a test section first so lucklily only a small portion of my hair was affected by this.

smbrooks96

12-09-2012 05:47 AM

I had it done at a salon and actually I was asked by my stylist to do it at no cost as part of their marketing around the new sevice...basically I was a hair model for them. And they used Koppala.

Not sure about the flat iorn heat setting but I think it was fairly hot.

As for the thinning it is from the root. I so think the thinning may be from other factors but my texture is the thing that I have noticed changing so much since the treatment. My hair is just so dry and brittle now. It was never like this before.

Thanks for listening!

Napp

12-10-2012 11:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by smbrooks96
(Post 2083029)

I had it done at a salon and actually I was asked by my stylist to do it at no cost as part of their marketing around the new sevice...basically I was a hair model for them. And they used Koppala.

Not sure about the flat iorn heat setting but I think it was fairly hot.

As for the thinning it is from the root. I so think the thinning may be from other factors but my texture is the thing that I have noticed changing so much since the treatment. My hair is just so dry and brittle now. It was never like this before.

Thanks for listening!

I think this formula is very hit or miss for some people. when doing it at a salon there is a higher risk of permanent effects because the stylist most likely follows the application to a T. which means using 450 degrees temperature to seal(which is unnecessary imo) and doing several passes.

are your roots brittle as well? it sounds like an awful expereince!I see that many report the hair being fine after the first application but the problems are noticed about a month or two after. this is why i like to try things that someone else has used more than once with 1-3 months rest inbetween. that way you can really tell how it affected their hair.

Unfortunately you will just have to grow it out but maybe someone will benefit from your experience.

The limpness paired with my baseball shaped head made me look ridiculous!!!

I did see some roughness, frizziness, and breakage during the grow out, which has been over the last ~ 2.5 years. To combat those issues I stopped using shampoo, amped up my conditioning routine and started wearing my hair up ~70% of the time.

Also, by following the advice from ladies on this board I found a regimen that allowed me to grow ~2b/3a hair to almost waist length.

But for the last 5 or so months I have experienced an amazing amount of thinning. Half my hair has fallen out, for sure. :(

A couple of particularly douchy coworkers started making fun of being able to see my scalp in July/August, so figuring it was keratin related (because Coppola made me shed pretty bad in 2009) I stopped using the Qod Organiq I'd been using for 2+ years. I also started taking a bunch of vitamins.

At the beginning of this month I finally went to the doctor and got my blood work done. When my blood work and other tests came back normal I started researching and found some interesting information.

Somewhere on a long hair site (will post link to it later) someone mentioned that a shock to the body makes hair fall out. They claimed that the shock could come from diet, exercise, accidents, stress, hormones, etc.

That made me remember that ~ 6 months ago after watching "Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead," I quit eating sugar and bread cold turkey and started a pretty strict juicing regimen. My diet for the last 13 years has been HORRIBLE, so the fact that my hair (and acne) issues cropped up when I drastically changed my diet makes sense to me. Apparently diet related shocks often result in wonderful regrowth. Of course I didn't stick to juicing so that's annoying. But the good news is that despite losing a lot of hair I do have a "normal" looking amount left AND it seems the my hair IS recovering.

Upon inspection this morning, I saw a lot of various length new grey hairs (yay!) and decided to come to this site to refresh my hair color knowledge and figured I'd check out the keratin posts as well - which is how I saw your post. This is my first post to this site!! :)

The point of all this rambling is to say that being nicer to my hair definitely allowed me to grow out the damage I did by overdoing keratin treatments. So I'm pretty sure the damage you've experienced can be remedied.

And I think my thinning has been from the shock of drastically changing diet, not keratin ... and even probably has something to do with my getting older (38).

Do you suspect anything else besides keratin for your thinning?

In the process of typing this post I colored my hair and am now sitting with Qod Organiq air drying on my head. If anything goes awry (like me suddenly going bald) I'll (briefly) let you know.

I do have to say that I almost detest the smell of this stuff. Why is it banana scented?! Blecht! Does anyone know of a non formaldehyde keratin product that doesn't smell horrible?

A few sites that helped me (or made me feel a bit better whilst trying to figure out how to stop the thinning) include:

I love doing research and writing (obviously) so would be happy to help you figure out what's happening with your head.

:)

TC

caramelove

02-05-2013 01:55 PM

I was one of the first chickas to go out and spend a ton of money on the new BK treatment when it first came to Houston 5 years ago or so. I was in love cause my hair was smooth shiny and tameable. I wore it straight and curly with no problems. Fast forward to now and I wish I hadn't jumped that bandwagon. My hair went from thick 3c to very thin 3c. It's noticeably thin to me. I used to have a thick bun now it's the size of a mini donut if not smaller. Talking to some stylist about this treatment they stated it is something that if used over time will change the texture of your hair. Now I'm in hair rehab. I was getting it once a year after that cause it grows out like my hair has a relaxer. My effects are more permanent not wearing off like its supposed to. If someone knows of a way to strip it out I'm down. Maybe apple cider vinegar and baking soda? :-P

Sent from my EVO using CurlTalk App

Nikki3b

02-05-2013 02:07 PM

My sister who had beautiful 3b fine hair got it done and continues to get it done every 6 months now has straight hair that won't curl.

Bruchilda

02-05-2013 04:33 PM

Uhm guys, how can you possibly get permanent changes??
I mean, why is this not happening to my hair? cause I d be grateful if that would happen!

I ve been using BKT for 2 years now, every 2-3 months, and I STILL start to get curls and frizz if I delay the treatment

Honeycurls

02-06-2013 02:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by smbrooks96
(Post 2082437)

It has been a long time since I came to this site but my experience with Keratin leads me to find out of other people out there have had the same experience.

I had it done two years ago. My hair took well and my normal curls were nowhere in sight... so the Keratin treatment seemed to be a success. But, as the months passed I kept expecting, and waiting, for my "normal hair" to return.

It never did.

Ever since Keratin, my hair texture has changed from well defined, fluffy cork-screw curls to VERY frizzy, dry/brittle, hard to tame curls. My hair has also been thinning tremendously.

I think the thinning might be from stress I had last year, but even still, I noticed these changes before the stress occurred.

I was speaking to my aunt who said her friend who had Keratin experienced a texture change as well - her hair became very frizzy and dry.

Are there others out there who are experiencing this? Do tell!

I hope I am not alone!

Yes, I talked about it all the time. My curls are permanently altered. I never do a full-head application anymore.

Depends on your hair texture (coarse vs. fine), with coarse hair being the most resistant to the relaxation and most likely to revert somewhat.

Navy girl

02-26-2013 03:06 PM

You are not alone! I too have not had the greatest experience partially my fault. When I decided not to relax my hair anymore in December 2010 I wasn't 100 percent sure how I would handle the transition. I transitioned until June of 2011 at which time my best friend and I cut it all off. I went home with a wash and go and said ok I can do this.
I had a great sylist and she began working with me to figure out this new texture on my head. Well one day in September I decided I couldn't like my hair so I wanted a relaxer. Bettsy refused and said let's try Provana. I loved the results and in November before I moved I got another treatment, which I enjoyed as well. I moved to CA Thanksgiving 2011 and had no hair stylist. I tried a friend's stylist who "specialized" in kinky hair, ie he is great with a pressing comb. He cut my hair so that is was great straight, but a mullet curly (not to mention he burned off a section of my hair).
Following this I went to a new person who did the Keratin Complex Express on my hair and fixed the bad hair cut. Well I liked the results and it would last me 2-3 months instead of the 6 weeks. When I would do twist outs I noticed my hair wouldn't hold the same. At some point in between Keratin treatments I needed a trim and my girl wasn't available. Well the new lady cut my hair wet and it had to be cut again to corrected. I had a total of 3 Keratin Complex treatments in 2012 and my hair had permanent straight ends. I asked my girl at an appointment before the last treatment if it was permanent and she assured me it wasn't and that over time she has gotten hers done less often. I convinced myself I prefered my hair straight and since it wouldn't twist the way I wanted I would wear it straight all the time. I got one more Keratin Complex Express treatment and hated it. My hair was relaxed again!
So while I have technically been natural since June 2011, I did not retain any length in 2012, between the keratin treatments and hair cuts.
I made a decission this weekend to not straighten my hair for at least 6 months. Saturday I cut off all my heat damaged straight hair and starting over. You are not alone I will never do another Keratin treatment on my hair.
Sorry for the long response

monipearl

03-03-2013 12:24 PM

i got the gk smoothing treatment last november. but it's the one that has three levels of strength. my stylist applied the curly (mid-strength) formula on my hair.

let me tell you, i panicked after my first wash and there was absolutely no curl. i had to scrunch and scrunch and scrunch to get a little bit of wave going. after a few more washes, my curls started to return, albeit way looser than before. i hated it.

you're not supposed to use sulfates when you have this treatment in your hair. i wanted my curls back so i used a sulfate shampoo (paul mitchell's 3). curls still lifeless. but the more i shampooed, the tighter the curls became over time.

it's completely gone from my hair now (i think) but my curl pattern is still not as strong as it was before the keratin treatment.

permanently looser curls? yes.

dry and brittle? no.

i try to deep condition at least once a week with a protein-free deep conditioner.

rsw

08-17-2013 03:16 PM

Monipearl - where did you do a mid strength? Is there a way to go from 3c to 3b?

bribrik10

08-17-2013 05:06 PM

I got the keratin treatment twice in one year before. My hair was damaged and could not curl. But, after not using heat for 2 years my hair Is better and is 3a. That's weird... I don't understand how a treatment can permanently change your hair. That's impossible it has to go back to normal in a year or two